“Don’t say anything yet.” I glanced up at Maggie, wondering what she was thinking. “Look, it just happened, like just happened. We should talk to Sebastian and find out what he wants to do.”
“With what?”
“With the kids,” she said like I was stupid.
Anger built back up inside me and I stood, ready to race out the door and grab them. “They’re coming with me. That’s what’s going to happen. Nobody is taking those kids from me. Those kids are the last bit of Kate that I have.”
“And what about their father?”
“You mean the father that didn’t protect their mother? Or are you talking about the man that just abandoned his kids to run off on another crusade?”
“What would you have him do? He just lost his wife!”
“I would have him stick around and not leave this up to me!”
Her tone softened and she placed her hand on my arm. I didn’t want it there. I didn’t want her sympathy or her understanding. I just wanted Kate back and to not have to break those kids’ hearts.
“Cole, I know this is hard on you, but you can’t just go in there and tell them she’s dead. You have to give Knight a chance to do that.”
“And what if he doesn’t come back? Am I just supposed to lie to them for days on end?”
“Look, tell Alex. Talk it over with her. I’m telling you, if it were my kids and I was gone, I would want Sebastian to be the one to tell them.”
I nodded with a sigh. I didn’t want to be the one to tell them anyway. I could give it a day or two. Maybe Knight would come back to his senses and return to his kids.
“Alright. Come on, I’ll go with you.”
She took my hand and walked with me to the room where Alex was playing with the kids. They looked so energetic and full of life right now. They had no idea that was all about to change. Alex looked up with a smile on her face, but when she saw my hand linked with Maggie’s, she knew something was wrong. Maggie gave my hand a squeeze and moved to sit with the kids, motioning for Alex to come talk to me.
“What’s going on?” Alex asked.
“Come with me.”
She followed me to an empty room where I shut the door and pulled her into my arms. My heart was breaking right now, but having Alex with me made everything better. And then it hit me, what I would do if anyone took Alex from me the way those people took Kate from Knight. Alex was my everything. She saved me when I was drowning. She pulled me back from the edge when I felt like I was losing my mind. Suddenly, Knight’s reaction made perfect sense. Without Alex, my world would cease to exist.
“You’re scaring me, Cole. What happened?”
I pulled back, swallowing hard as I struggled to say the words yet again. Every time I said them, it made it more real. “Kate’s dead.”
Tears filled her eyes and she took a step back from me, shaking her head in disbelief. “No, it’s not possible.”
“I told you that she was taken-”
“No!” she shouted, the tears pouring down her face. I reached for her, but she pulled even farther away. Kate was practically her sister. After all these years, the bond they had ran deep, and Alex had already seen too much loss.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“No, this can’t be happening. We were just making plans about the summer. We were going to take the kids to the beach and take Raven on her first roller coaster.” She shook her head as the tears continued to pour down her face. She clutched at her chest, like she was in physical pain when the first sob erupted. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in close to me. “This can’t be happening,” she cried over and over.
I ran my hand up and down her back, trying my best to soothe her, but I knew it was useless. “I wish it wasn’t true. I wish that I could have done something.”
“How could he let her die?” she cried out. “He broke his promise!” she cried, slamming her fist into my chest.
“He did everything he could,” I said quietly, because whether or not it was true, I needed her to believe that. I needed her to think that Kate died with everyone fighting for her.
“Oh God,” she gasped, pulling back from me. “What about the kids? What is he going to tell them?”
“He’s…he’s not here.”
“What do you mean? He left?”
“Alex, his wife just died. He’s not thinking clearly.”
“So, he just left his kids behind?”
“They have us,” I said, gripping onto her arms. “They have us to take care of them. We’ll make sure that they’re taken care of until he comes back.”
“You mean if he comes back,” she said heatedly. “We both know that Knight only cares about himself.”
“That’s not true. You know he loves his family more than anything.”
“Then why isn’t he here?” she shouted.
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to figure out what to say. I was just as confused. I understood him, but I hated him at the same time. I didn’t know which stance to take on this, but one thing I knew for sure was that those kids needed us right now, whether they knew it or not.
“Look, we’ll give him a few days. If he’s not back by then, we’ll have to tell them. We can’t just let them go on thinking that she’s coming home any day. That’s cruel.”
She nodded and wrapped her arms around my body, smothering her face into my chest. We stayed like that for a few minutes, just soaking in each other’s comfort.
“Come on, let’s go get the kids and take them back to our place.”
She nodded and we left the room. The short walk back to them was daunting, but the look of happiness on Raven’s face about killed me.
“Hey,” I said with a wobbly smile. “What do you guys think of having a sleepover with Auntie Alex and me?”
“Really?” Raven squealed, jumping up and down. “Is Dad out of town again?”
“Yeah.” I had to clear my throat before speaking again. “He took your mom away for a few days. So, it’s party time at our house!”
“Yes! This is going to be so awesome!”
“Well, let’s go pack your bags and hit the road.”
Maggie led us out of the panic room, but before we could get to our vehicles, Sebastian came running out and stopped us.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m taking the kids back to my house.”
“You can’t do that,” he hissed, pulling me away from the kids. “Look, what’s going on is really bad. Trust me, if they killed Kate over this, they’ll come back for those kids. The safest place they can be right now is in the panic room. All of you can stay in one of the suites. But if you walk out that door, I can guarantee that all of you will be dead within forty-eight hours.”
“If you want me to stay here, then you’d better tell me what the fuck is going on.”
He glanced back at the kids and then nodded. “Alright, let’s get back inside. It’s making me itch being out in the open.”
I glanced around, but I didn’t feel the same itch he felt. Either I was losing my touch or he was paranoid. We went back inside and Alex took the kids back to the panic room. Sebastian filled me in, and the tingles were back. The warning hairs on my neck stood tall, and suddenly all that mattered was protecting those kids.
Chapter Twenty-One
Parker
I had nothing on me to defend myself. I was beaten from earlier and my body was hurt, but that wouldn’t stop me from trying to break us out of here or die trying. It was just about to the four hour mark. Dennick wouldn’t just walk back in here. He would want me to know that he was torturing Blake in another room. I had to draw him back to me.
Dennick was weak. He had probably been a well-trained agent at one point, but years of sitting behind a desk had made him slow. It wasn’t him that I had to worry about. It was whoever came with him. He would make sure at least one more agent was with him, so I had to move fast and make sure that I got to Dennick before his agen
ts got to me. The door had an automatic lock on it, so assuming I got Dennick and his keys, I might have a reprieve before anyone else came back.
I took a deep breath and pounded on the door. “Dennick! I want to talk to you!” There was no response, so I kept banging. “Dennick! You want answers and I can give them to you!”
It took ten minutes of pounding, but I finally heard the shuffling of feet and the lock turn on the door. I flattened myself against the wall and waited for the door to open. When it opened and Dennick was about halfway through, I grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him the rest of the way through, kicking the door shut behind me. I slammed Dennick against the wall, his head bouncing off the concrete of the cell. I kicked his legs out from under him, sending him sprawling to his knees and then shoved him back against the wall with my knee in his back.
Someone was trying to get in the door, but as I suspected, they must not have the keys.
“You’re going to take me to Blake and then you’re going to get us out of here,” I said in a deadly voice.
“I’m not helping you,” he said dazedly.
I slammed his head against the wall again. “Don’t fuck with me, Dennick. I can make this very painful for you or this can go easy.”
“Fuck you, Parker. You’re nothing but a disgraced marine. You’re nothing, and you’re going to rot in this cell for the rest of your life.”
“Wrong fucking answer,” I said, slamming my fist into his kidneys. I wrapped my hand around his throat, putting enough pressure that he would struggle to breathe. “Now, we’re going to walk out of here when they come back. You’re going to tell the guards to back off or I’ll snap your neck. And like you said, I’ll rot in this cell, so I really don’t have anything left to lose. I’ll have no problem taking you down with me. Do you understand me?”
He nodded slightly and we waited another few minutes, his body sagging heavily against me because he was so out of shape.
When the door finally opened, the two agents outside had their guns raised, but couldn’t seem to figure out what to do.
“Put your guns down,” Dennick commanded. When they didn’t immediately follow his orders, I squeezed his throat harder, causing him to wince in pain.
“Put your gun on the ground,” I said to the closest man. He bent down slowly and set down the gun. “Kick it over here. You too,” I said to the second man. Both of them grudgingly put down their weapons and kicked them my way. Now that the other guards were in here, I had different plans for how I wanted this to go, which included all of them being locked in this cell. “Here’s what we’re going to do. Dennick, we’re going to slowly bend over and you’re going to pick up both guns. If you don’t want me to snap your neck, you won’t try anything. Understand?”
He nodded, but answered yes when I squeezed his neck harder. Together, we slowly bent over. I had to keep my eyes on both agents while keeping an eye on Dennick, but he followed my orders and slowly handed them to me one at a time. I shoved one in the back of my jeans and the other in the front.
“Now, both of you undress.”
“What?” the first guy asked, then quickly shut his mouth.
“You heard me. Strip.”
The two of them looked at each other and I squeezed Dennick’s neck again. “Just do it!” he shouted.
Both agents undressed and shoved their clothes aside, going all the way down to their underwear.
“All of it,” I growled. Their eyes went wide and they swallowed hard before pulling down their underwear. I grabbed the gun out of the front of my jeans and pointed it at Dennick. “Now you.”
His face turned bright red as he grabbed his tie and started to undo it. With great efficiency, he undressed completely.
“Good, now pick up all the clothes and toss them out the door.”
His jaw clenched, but he did as he was told. Slowly, I moved around them, being careful not to get close enough for them to try anything. When I was out, I slammed the door behind me and then took the key, twisting and breaking it off in the lock. I searched through all the clothes until I came up with a master set of keys and pocketed them.
I ran down the hall, searching for Blake. I wasn’t sure who else was in the building, so I was quiet as I moved down the hall. I was a little shocked when I didn’t come across anyone. It was like the place was deserted, but that made sense if this wasn’t an official facility. If Dennick had just brought us here because he needed someplace to stash us, he wouldn’t have a lot of security.
I knocked on the doors, calling out quietly for Blake. I kept moving down the hall until I got to the last one and prayed she was in that cell. “Blake,” I called out.
“Parker?” I heard the disbelief in her voice. “How did you get here?”
I pulled out the keys and shoved them in one at a time until I came up with the one that unlocked her door. When it swung open and I saw her face, I didn’t hesitate to pull her into my arms and kiss her hard. I thought I would never see her again. I thought….
“Are you okay?” I asked, pulling back to look at her. Her clothes were still wet and she was shaking, but otherwise she seemed okay.
“Just cold.”
“Then let’s get out of here and warm you up.”
She nodded and gave me a brilliant smile. “I like the sound of that.”
I shoved the other gun into her hands, noticing they were shaking hard. “Are you good?”
She nodded, her teeth chattering. “I’ll be fine.”
“Just don’t shoot me. I know I kind of have it coming, but I’d like to make it out of here.”
“Why would I shoot you? I’d just throw you through a window.”
I grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her along behind me. Once we made it down a few more hallways and toward what appeared to be the main area of the facility, I let go of her hand and crept toward the entrance. Peeking around the corner, I could see a few guys sitting at a desk, chatting with their feet up. They obviously weren’t worried about security, which would explain why this had been so easy thus far.
“Why would they bring us here if they couldn’t keep us secure?” Blake asked.
“Just a shot in the dark, but I’m guessing this is not a legal facility. They probably don’t have enough manpower.”
“Can we just shoot them?” I glanced back at her, a little surprised by her suggestion. “What? Obviously, they’re on the wrong side of the law. I say they deserve it.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Or, we could just sneak past them. I doubt they would even see us. It looks like they’re too busy talking.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “We’ll do it the boring way.”
“I like to think of it as the legal way, but whatever.”
“Like anything that’s happening here is legal,” she shot back.
“Do you really want to argue about this? Geez, I thought being an FBI agent, you would have higher morals.”
“Ex-FBI agent. And I guess being wrapped up in a huge conspiracy, almost dying, and being waterboarded makes me a little less willing to let others live.”
“Duly noted.”
“So, what’s the plan when we get out of here? Is Reed Security waiting for us or something?”
“No, I don’t have a plan,” I said, glancing around the corner.
“What do you mean? You just showed up here and didn’t think where we were going to go?”
I turned to her and pointed back down the hall. “I was being held here too. The only reason I knew that you were here was because Dennick made me watch them waterboard you.”
Her eyes shot up. “Oh. Where is he now?”
I grinned. “I left him and his friends naked in my cell.”
She choked back a laugh. “Alright, well, I guess I can forgive you for not having a plan.”
“So gracious of you.” I peeked around the corner one last time. “It’s now or never. Let’s move.”
We ducked low and ran quietly in front of the desk. They were too
preoccupied to even notice, and when we got to the door, we slipped outside with ease. We ran for the end of the building and ducked down in the shadows.
“What do we do now?”
“Steal a car?”
She nodded and scanned the parking lot. “I don’t know how to steal a car,” she leaned over and whispered.
“Neither do I.”
“So…you wanna walk?”
“I think a stroll sounds nice.”
I grabbed her hand and together, we walked off into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Blake
“How much farther do you think we have to go?”
Although I wasn’t as cold as I was in that damn cell, my clothes were still wet and I desperately wanted a shower.
“A few more miles if we’re where I think we are,” Parker said, snatching my hand in his. I didn’t need his help, but I liked that he wanted to help me. I couldn’t believe that he had risked everything to get out of that cell and rescue me. When he told me about his escape, I couldn’t help but laugh. This man was more than I could have ever hoped for, but I was afraid to believe that any of this was true. What if this was all lust based on our circumstances? What if when this was over, there was nothing left for us?
“Parker, were you serious about what you said to my family?”
He glanced over his shoulder, his face obviously confused. “About what?”
“All that stuff you said. I mean, the stuff about marriage, that was a joke, right?”
“Why the fuck would I joke about something like that?”
“Well…because…because you were trying to get a reaction out of my family.”
“I definitely did that. But no, that’s not why I said that.”
I tugged on his hand for him to stop walking. I needed to see his face for this conversation. “Then why did you say that? You couldn’t possibly know that any of this would work between us. I mean, we barely know each other. Most people date for months before the subject of moving in together comes up. And marriage is…marriage is an afterthought.”
GoodKnight: A Reed Security Romance Page 11